A short listicle providing effective tips and strategies from famous TikTokers for developing health-related content on TikTok.
What’s the best way to get people to pay attention to health? And not just by telling them to work out or eat vegetables more, but keeping them informed of public health issues, which can help increase awareness and support for initiatives that address these at a larger scale.
It’s simple: Meet them where they are.
Over the pandemic, experts and organizations used social media to provide updates on the latest developments in the pandemic and to answer questions from followers. As a result, medical influencers or “medfluencers” became increasingly popular as people sought out reliable, trustworthy sources for information about COVID-19. TikTok, in particular, was the main platform for these medfluencers. With 1.5 billion active users as of November, this makes it the perfect platform for health professionals to promote public health campaigns, such as flu shots or handwashing.
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If you or your organization are looking to join the ranks of these medfluencers, here are five tried and tested techniques from the leading expert-creators for making viral #HealthToks:
1. Keep it short.
Remember that TikToks are usually 15-60 seconds long, so keep your content concise and to the point. Focus on one clear message, rather than trying to cram in too much information. Captions can also be an effective way to ensure your video is quick and easy to understand and of course, accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Dr. Noc (@dr.noc) always displays the topics of his videos on the thumbnails, maximizes auto-captions, and keeps his content under 60 seconds.
Hashtags can also do more of the talking for you in the caption. They boost engagement and increase the reach and visibility of a post by making it more easily discoverable to users who are searching for that particular topic.
2. Use visuals and music.
When you’re dealing with a lot of medical information that’s new to many people, incorporating visuals such as photos, graphics, and other videos into your TikTok can make it more engaging and digestible for viewers. Doc John the Dentist (@docjohnthedentist) uses videos from his procedures to answer related questions from his followers.
Music adds an extra layer of entertainment too, so choose a catchy song that fits the theme of your content. Dr. Bea Chan (@beamaxinemd) and Dr. Noc always use popular songs and TikTok trends in their content to help it get noticed and shared by a wider audience.
3. Keep it light and relatable.
Make humorous videos to lighten the mood while still conveying important health messages. Dr. Will Flanary, who goes by Dr. Glaucomflecken on the internet (@drglaucomflecken), makes skits about working at a hospital and imparts medical knowledge in a niche yet entertaining way.
But it’s not enough to be funny—you have to be relatable too. Use simple and easy-to-understand language in your videos and engage with followers by consistently responding to their comments and messages.
4. Be collaborative.
Collaborating with other content creators is important because it allows you to combine your strengths and reach a wider audience. This can be beneficial for both parties, as combining different styles and points of view can lead to higher engagement rates and more diverse content that appeals to a larger demographic. KonsultaMD (@konsultamd) is a health app that features varied content from all their doctors on-call.
Another way to be collaborative is by sharing useful resources or links at the end of your TikTok. This not only builds credibility and trustworthiness as a health expert but also encourages viewers to be more proactive in staying informed.
5. Track analytics.
It’s not just illnesses that need a diagnosis. Maximizing the analytics feature on TikTok can enable any creator to see what’s working and what needs improvement. Analytics can help identify trends or opportunities for growth, so you can continue to reach more people with effective and purposeful content.
Adapting to short-form video content starred on platforms like TikTok is one of the best ways to launch a campaign at present. It appeals to a mobile-first generation, providing an easy-to-consume, interactive, and entertaining format that can communicate even complex or nuanced topics on healthcare. When leveraged on the expertise and following of established medfluencers, it can guarantee the reach and effectiveness of any health communications campaign.
M2.0 is a communications firm that has been helping brands tell meaningful, data-driven narratives. As a company offering influencer marketing and PR services in the Philippines, M2 has built an extensive network of media contacts and social media influencers to help our partners with their PR and marketing strategies.